Decent Sci-Fi Pic

Rating: 6/10 (15 October 2006)

'The Island' is a decent sci-fi pic that I would place in the same genre as "AI", "I, Robot" and "Gattica". In fact, it's not really so much either of these (generally better) movies as it is a patchwork of themes that are common to them (and for that matter, most anti-utopian novels concerning the not-too-distant future). 'The Island' deals with one of the most controversial topics of our modern era- genetic engineering- and revisits some of the same old eugenicist fears that were depicted in 'Gattica'. Like both 'AI' and 'I, Robot', it also treads old ground as far as how society deals with an increasingly close yet disturbing fusion of technology and society, and its implications for the ways we view ourselves as human beings.
I felt that 'The Island' tended to drag on at certain points, and it certainly could have been cut down to size, from it's theatrical length of 2 1/2 hours to 2 or even 1 1/2 hours. I would have preferred to see a richer development of the main characters, especially since the entire theme revolved around the struggles of the two protagonists against a corrupt institution. I would have preferred to understand more about how that society came about in the first place, and why its existence was so well hidden.
The action sequences especially tended to divert attention away from some of the serious themes of the movie, appearing more like Spielberg summer schtick than Kubrick sci-fi (which is one reason why I felt that had Mr. Kubrick had a chance to finish "AI" we might have truly seen his final great classic as it was meant to be). But I digress here..
"The Island" is worth checking out.